October 9, 2020
Eden Health District COVID-19 Bulletin
"One of the things that’s so difficult about this virus is the fear and loneliness that accompanies it."
Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University, 10/9/20
San Jose Sharks help fight Covid-19 food insecurity
While the hockey side of the San Jose Sharks organization was getting ready for the NHL Draft, the Sharks Foundation was giving back to their faithful Sharks fans who may be struggling during the times of the pandemic.

The Sharks Foundation and SAP teamed up with CityTeam in the Neighborhood at Esperanza Middle School for a bi-weekly mobile pantry that serves 250 households on a monthly basis. The drive provides food, including produce and dairy products, to families who are facing food insecurities during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"One-in-four people, prior to Covid, was food insecure," CityTeam in the Neighborhood Director Hermie Smit said. "Since the lockdown and economic fallout, it has gone through the roof. We literally registered thousands of new households and, for many of them, it's the first time they've ever come to a food pantry to come for help.”

This is one of 24 mobile food pantries that CityTeam runs in the Bay Area. Since their conception in 2018, the organization has provided food for thousands of families, like the Vasquez family. This is the first time that the family has been in need of help and they are so thankful for what they have received.
"I just want to say thank you to the people that are providing us and helping us with all these things," Martha Vasquez said. "My husband is the only one that is working and I have two daughters and I'm expecting another baby, so these food pantries help us out a lot."
Just over a dozen volunteers are needed to keep the mobile pantry up and running. For those in attendance, it is very special to be able to give back.

"Magical is probably the best word I can use at this point," volunteer Stacy McGranor said. "It's an opportunity for us to help folks who really need it. If we can give time and a little bit of heavy lifting, the chance to do so is just wonderful."

In addition to the time volunteered, the San Jose Sharks put forth a sizable grant to keep the great work going in East San Jose. Just another way that the team steps up to help Sharks Territory.

"This project actually came to the Sharks Foundation through our grant cycle," Sharks Foundation Manager Jenné Johnson said. "When we saw the opportunity to sponsor CityTeam's mobile pantry for an entire year, it was a no-brainer for us. The pandemic has really opened up a lot of opportunities for us to get involved in the community and this was just another opportunity where we could help out all the community members here in East San Jose that are really in need during these challenging times."

Source: ABC 7 News

Local Food Resources: Alameda County has created a map listing food pantries and other social services. 
By the Numbers
CONFIRMED CASES
Alameda County: 21,938

Contra Costa County: 17,546

Bay Area: 107,092

California: 845,816

U.S.: 7,635,052
REPORTED DEATHS
Alameda County: 440

Contra Costa County: 228

Bay Area: 1,633

California: 16,435

U.S.: 213,158
Bay Area News
Free Covid-19 Testing in Cherryland
Alameda County Public Health, October 8, 2020
A new mobile testing site will open today at Eden United Church of Christ located at 21455 Birch Street in Cherryland. The site will operate through the end of 2020 every Friday, 3 to 7 p.m., and  every Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
 
This site is prioritizing testing for local residents, unincorporated area residents, Latinx community members, Newcomers, Unaccompanied Immigrant Youth, Immigrant, Black and low income community members. Testing is free, no insurance needed, no questions about immigration status. Services are available in Spanish, English and other languages will be added. 

Testing is by appointment at https://ac.fulgentgenetics.com or call (408) 409-4671 for assistance in registering.

Free Covid-19 testing in the Hayward area is also be offered at Glad Tidings Church.
Mercury News, October 8, 2020
The number of reported coronavirus deaths spiked across the Bay Area Wednesday, upping this week’s daily average and marking the most new single-day deaths disclosed in nearly a month. Thirty-seven new deaths in total were reported across the 10 counties, including 13 in Alameda County, eight in Santa Clara, six in Contra Costa, four in Santa Cruz, three in San Francisco, two in Solano and one in Marin, according to data collected by this news organization. That’s the most deaths publicly disclosed in one day since Sept. 15.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that the deaths occurred on a single day or even recently, however. As recently reported, Alameda County in particular has reported double-digit deaths multiple times over the past month as it catches up on backlogged data that goes back to August — a phenomenon that county health officials, leaders and the coroner have struggled to fully explain. In reality, the county has not had a day since the pandemic began with more than eight deaths, and it averages no more than two deaths a day.

East Bay Times, October 9, 2020
Once a leading economic powerhouse, the Bay Area now is one of the nation’s weakest regions in recovering the jobs lost when coronavirus-linked business shutdowns began.

The East Bay, the San Francisco-San Mateo region and Santa Clara County are performing so poorly in recovering from the epic employment losses of March and April that each of these local regions, along with the overall Bay Area, is in the bottom 10 of a ranking of 30 large metro areas in the United States, this news organization’s analysis of U.S. Labor Department data shows.

Experts say the lag is not the fault of any underlying economic weakness but rather the impact of the Bay Area’s stringent Covid-19 shutdown. Restrictions on business activity have helped control the coronavirus in an area that saw one of the nation’s first outbreaks, leading to comparatively low rates of infections and deaths. But they have also constrained a normally vigorous economy.

It could take two years for the Bay Area to recover its lost jobs and return to the record heights for its job market that the region enjoyed only last February, judging from projections based on its current pace. The state is struggling to recover as well.

SF Chronicle, October 9, 2020
Information was scarce as the worst possible scenario played out for family members of residents of the Watsonville Post-Acute Center — a coronavirus outbreak that has killed nine people and infected 61. Of those who tested positive, 46 were residents and 15 were staff, public health officials said. The facility is licensed for 95 beds.
Health News
The Daily Briefing, October 9, 2020
Final clinical trial data on Gilead Sciences' antiviral drug remdesivir shows the drug reduced Covid-19 hospitalized patients' recovery time by five to seven days when compared with patients who received a placebo—and the drug may have decreased the risk of death among Covid-19 patients who required oxygen.

  • Comment by Dr. Bob Wachter, Twitter, October 8, 2020. "While not a statistically significant mortality benefit, the shortening in time to recovery is significant (both statistically and clinically) and merits use of the drug. And the mortality difference is a trend that's hard to ignore. I'd want the drug if I was in the right group."

STAT, October 9, 2020
The race to develop Covid-19 vaccines could well see some Americans vaccinated before the end of 2020 — less than a year after the world first learned a new virus was causing a dangerous new form of pneumonia in China.

The design, testing, and mass production of multiple vaccines has never been attempted on this type of timeline, making this moment a turning point in the development of vaccines to respond to new disease threats. But the complexity of that work may pale in comparison to what comes next — the rollout of hundreds of millions of doses of never-before-used vaccines across the United States and, eventually, around the world. Health reporters at STAT review the potential hurdles that might complicate this very important effort.

Washington Post, October 8, 2020
President Trump and a top aide are pushing the Food and Drug Administration to quickly grant emergency clearance for a promising but unproven covid-19 therapy that the president received nearly a week ago and has credited with his rapid recovery, according to two senior administration officials.

Trump and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows have called FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn to urge him to accelerate the agency’s review of the drug, a cocktail of laboratory-made antibodies made by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, according to the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the efforts.

Associated Press, October 8, 2020
They’re not cures and it’s not likely that everyone will be able to get them as President Donald Trump has suggested. But experimental antibody drugs like the one Trump was given are among the most promising therapies being tested for treating and preventing coronavirus infections.

Eli Lilly and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals are asking the U.S. government to allow emergency use of their antibody drugs, which aim to help the immune system clear the virus. The medicines are still in testing; their safety and effectiveness are not yet known. Trump is among fewer than 10 people who were able to access the Regeneron one under “compassionate use” rules, without enrolling in a study.

Bloomberg, October 9, 2020
A federal effort to arm nursing homes with rapid coronavirus tests is stumbling on concern the tests return false positives, putting at least one state at odds with federal officials over the value of the tests. Nevada this month ordered nursing homes to stop using the point-of-care tests after they found more than 20 instances where positive findings were overturned by more precise assays. That was more than half of the positive samples re-tested. Other states are now questioning their accuracy as well.

Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2020
It isn’t clear whether President Trump, who is 74 years old, was infected with the coronavirus by a 31-year-old political adviser—but if he was, the transmission route from young to old would follow an international trend.
Young people account for the majority of known Covid-19 infections, but the elderly account for most of the deaths.

“It’s a social moral dilemma,” said Mun Sim Lai, a population-affairs officer with the United Nations who has examined the trend. “Young people get the virus and don’t die, but they are the ones spreading it to old people. This is true over the world.” Dr. Lai analyzed data from 55 countries, including the U.S., and found that through Sept. 1, people who were 65 and older represented just 12% of confirmed coronavirus cases but 66% of deaths.

USA Today, October 9, 2020
USA Today asked medical researchers question on the latest topics concerning the coronavirus including is 6 feet really a safe distance? The answer: It's more a rule of thumb than a hard-and-fast instruction. Much the determination depends on the level of ventilation and whether people are wearing masks. Six feet apart from others is generally safe outside, but not always inside.

US and California Data
Source: Covid Tracking Project, 10/8/20 (bold lines are 7-day averages)
United States
California
California News
LA Times, October 9, 2020
The uptick in coronavirus cases in Los Angeles and several other California counties is cause for concern, but experts said Thursday that it’s too early to say whether it represents the start of a larger surge in infections. The next few weeks will be crucial in seeing whether California can keep case numbers and hospitalizations down even as officials continue to reopen the economy. The state is hoping its new tier system will avoid the surge in cases that came this summer when the state rapidly allowed businesses to reopen and people returned to old habits.


SF Gate, October 8, 2020
Two more residents of Shasta County died from the coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the county total since the start of the pandemic to 24, health officials reported. In the past week, the county has reported 335 new cases.
These numbers may be surprising in this pocket of Northern California known for vast open spaces and endless forests, but Covid-19 outbreaks across the country have shown that the virus can spiral out of control anywhere. The spike in Shasta County is being driven by cases at an evangelical school and a nursing facility in Redding, the county's largest city.

Sacramento Bee, October 8, 2020
Hundreds of thousands of Californians who were out of work at the start of last month will be getting another week of supplemental $300 payments from the federal government, the state’s Employment Development Department said Thursday. The Lost Wages Assistance Program payments to qualified claimants should start going out next week. They are likely to be the last such supplemental benefits for a long time. President Donald Trump authorized the extra payments in August, and enough money was available for the six weeks ending September 5.

Mercury News, October 9, 2020
The mammoth backlog of unemployment claims that have buried California’s troubled labor agency amid coronavirus-linked business shutdowns and huge numbers of layoffs has begun to shrink a bit, a government report indicated Thursday. As of Oct. 7, the backlog of unemployment claims that the state government has been attempting to work through was roughly 1.34 million — a giant number, but considerably less than what it has been.

NY Times, October 9, 2020
It’s been over a month since California moved from a county monitoring system to a new framework based on tiers. The new system assesses county metrics weekly and assigns color-coded tiers based on daily case numbers and positivity rates. Counties must stay in their respective tiers for three weeks before moving. They can move to a less restrictive tier once they have met that tier’s criteria for two weeks in a row. If their numbers worsen for two weeks, they will be moved to a more restricted tier.

The system also has equity measures built in. The pandemic has disproportionately affected communities with African-Americans, Latinos, and low-income and essential workers. Latinos account for nearly 50% of Covid-19 deaths despite making up 38% of the state’s population.

To reopen schools for in-person learning, counties must be in the red tier for at least two consecutive weeks. This week, schools in at least 32 counties have been allowed to reopen and the three counties that recently moved into the red tier have two weeks to plan for reopening, should they chose to do so. Some counties have not rushed to reopen schools, despite being eligible.

Mercury News, October 8, 2020
There were new trends when looking at the data compiled during Coastal Cleanup Month, with preliminary reports released this week showing what volunteers scooped up on the beaches, waterways, parks and neighborhoods throughout the state during the month of September. Discarded personal protective equipment, or PPE, from the pandemic made the Top 10 list for the first time. Plastic bags, banned in the state in 2014, made a comeback. Most of the items that made the Top 10 list of trash found were food-related, with people discarding takeout containers, cups and utensils.
US News
The Hill, October 9, 2020
The United States on Thursday reported more than 56,000 new confirmed cases of Covid-19, making it the country’s highest daily increase since mid-August, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The increase brings the total number of U.S. cases to more than 7.6 million, with nearly 213,000 deaths. 

According to the data, Wisconsin also reached a record with more than 3,000 coronavirus cases confirmed on Thursday. The state’s department of health reported a seven-day average of 2,381 new cases. The data also indicated increasing infections in several states, with Illinois reporting more than 3,000 new infections on Thursday for the first time in more than a month, and North Carolina recording a repeat of July peak levels at 2,400 newly confirmed cases Thursday. 

LA Times, October 8, 2020
A surge of coronavirus cases in Wisconsin and the Dakotas is forcing a scramble for hospital beds and raising political tensions, as the Upper Midwest and Plains emerge as one of the nation’s most troubling hot spots. The three states now lead all others in new cases per capita, after months in which many politicians and residents rejected mask requirements while downplaying the risks of the disease that has now killed more than 210,000 Americans. The efforts to combat the quickening spread of the virus in the Midwest and Plains states are starting to recall the scenes that played out in other parts of the country over the past several months.

NY Times, October 9, 2020
The Northeastern United States, devastated by the coronavirus in the spring and then held up as a model of infection control by the summer, is now seeing the first inklings of what might become a second wave of the virus. In Boston, plans to bring children back to school have been halted as cases climb precariously. New virus clusters are emerging in Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. In New York City, the number of new cases each day now averages more than 500 for the first time since June.

USA Today, October 8, 2020
President Donald Trump and other White House insiders infected with Covid-19 carried the virus across the country in a matter of days, potentially exposing hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people as they went about their business, a USA TODAY investigation found. 
From a religious summit outside Atlanta to a campaign rally at a Pennsylvania airport and a private fundraiser in Minnesota, Trump, his aides and political allies attended events with thousands of people, often without masks and little regard for social distancing.

NY Times, October 9, 2020
The White House physician, Dr. Sean P. Conley, predicted in a memo released Thursday that President Trump could safely “return to public engagements” on Saturday, based on the date on which he tested positive for the coronavirus and his response to treatments. News of Mr. Trump’s potentially imminent return to public appearances or the campaign trail was met with skepticism and alarm from medical experts, who suggested it was premature and questioned whether the end of his isolation met guidelines from the CDC.

NY Times, October 8, 2020
Through last month, Neshoba County, where most of the Choctaw tribe’s residents live, had the highest death rate per capita in Mississippi from the coronavirus, according to data tracked by The New York Times. And despite making up 18% of the county’s residents, tribal members have accounted for more than half of the county’s virus cases and about 64% of the deaths. While communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the virus, it appears to be especially deadly in some tribal nations, where poverty, multigenerational housing and underlying health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease have been contributing factors.

Axios, October 9, 2020
One group of Americans needs a fresh stimulus package more than any other: The 2.4 million Americans — and rising — who have been unemployed for more than six months. While the economic recession looks like it ended in April, rising long-term unemployment acts as a drag on the broader economy. Without new stimulus, the number of jobless could end up being almost as bad as the Great Recession of 2008-9.
CA Education News
CalMatters, October 8, 2020
As more California schools gain permission from the state to offer in-person instruction, they are grappling with a massive logistical puzzle: How, exactly, do you operate schools within schools, where some students attend classes in person in some form while others learn remotely full-time?

Giving families the option to choose between a hybrid, or blended, model — meaning students split their time learning on campus and at home — and full-time remote learning appears to be the course that many of the state’s school districts are charting toward. The state signaled this summer that schools would likely have to implement some form of hybrid scheduling in order to reduce class sizes and implement the social distancing and safety measures that help mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.

The plans to give families a choice also reflect the fact that, in any given community across the state, there are widely diverging thoughts from families and educators on when, how and if schools should physically reopen.

CalMatters, October 8, 2020
More than 100,000 low-income college students in California lack access to the technology they need in order to participate in online classes, according to a new report. It is among the first comprehensive looks at how the coronavirus pandemic intersects with the digital divide at California colleges.
The digital divide is not a new problem in California: As of 2019, only about half of low-income Californians had broadband internet at home, compared with three-quarters of households overall. But uneven access to technology poses a major barrier to students’ learning as the coronavirus remains uncontained and colleges begin planning for a spring semester online, said report author Abby Ridley-Kerr, a research and data analyst. “No campus is untouched by this.”

LA Times, October 8, 2020
As most public and private school students in California continue to study from home, a majority of voters say the state’s schools are not prepared to offer high-quality distance learning, although they are more positive about their own local schools, according to a poll released Thursday.
Parents worry that if children are at home for the rest of the year, it will result in learning loss for all students, but especially for the most economically vulnerable who suffer from hunger or housing insecurity. Low-income parents, in particular, worry that prolonged distance learning will mean they won’t be able to get back to work.

Mercury News, October 9, 2020
The California Four have a path through the seven-game season that begins Nov. 7, but it’s hardly free of obstacles or overflowing with clarity. Their journey begins Friday with the start of training camp, at least for three teams. With daily antigen testing in place, the state guidance allows teams to practice in large groups of 75 and “to the extent possible” smaller cohorts of 25.
US Education News
NPR, October 9, 2020
Comprehensive national data aren't available yet, but reporting by NPR and member stations, along with media reports from around the country, shows enrollment declines in dozens of school districts across 20 states. Large and small, rich and poor, urban and rural — in most of these districts the decline is a departure from recent trends. Over the past 15 years, data from the U.S. Education Department show that small and steady annual increases in public school enrollment have been the rule.

EdSource, October 7, 2020
When schools canceled in-person classes in the spring, some students lost crucial opportunities to learn and practice their new language — English.
Researchers and advocates for English learners say during distance learning, schools need to prioritize live instruction and small groups. They also need to work with families in their native languages to support learning at home and provide social-emotional support to ease anxiety and stress caused by the pandemic. But many researchers, parents and teachers are worried that students learning English are not getting the help or the language instruction they need.

The Atlantic, October 9, 2020
We are starting to get an evidence-based picture of how school reopenings and remote learning are going (those photos of hallways don’t count), and the evidence is pointing in one direction. Schools do not, in fact, appear to be a major spreader of Covid-19. Data on almost 200,000 kids in 47 states from the last two weeks of September revealed an infection rate of 0.13% among students and 0.24% among staff. That’s about 1.3 infections over two weeks in a school of 1,000 kids, or 2.2 infections over two weeks in a group of 1,000 staff. Even in high-risk areas of the country, the student rates were well under half a percent.

These numbers are not zero, which for some people means the numbers are not good enough. But zero was never a realistic expectation. We know that children can get Covid-19, even if they do tend to have less serious cases.

NY Times, Updated October 9, 2020
A New York Times survey of more than 1,700 American colleges and universities — including every four-year public institution and every private college that competes in N.C.A.A. sports — has revealed more than 178,000 cases and at least 70 deaths since the pandemic began.

CNBC, October 9, 2020
The Covid-19 crisis and an ongoing nationwide shortage of qualified teachers have created a perfect storm in the education system that may only worsen in the months to come. Data from the American Federation of Teachers, the national labor union, shows that 1 in 3 teachers say the pandemic has made them more likely to retire earlier than planned, particularly among those over age 50 and with more than 20 years’ tenure.
Volunteer EMT contracts and recovers from Covid-19
When Magali Esteva arrived in New York City in March to help the city’s frontline workers, it was her first trip ever to the city. “It’s a beautiful city, for sure, but it almost felt like a ghost town,” she recalled.

The volunteer EMT from Houston stayed in Times Square and worked at Mount Sinai, where she says her job was to help nurses and doctors treat the growing numbers of Covid19 patients.

“To sit with [the patients] so they wouldn’t pass by themselves,” she said.

As a healthy person who exercised regularly, Esteva admitted she was scared during her first encounter with a Covid patient, but said that quickly melted into resolve.

“After seeing how sick this person was you know it just disappeared, I didn’t think anything of it after that, and I knew I just wanted to help,” Esteva said.

After about two months, Esteva left New York for San Francisco to continue volunteering. She returned to Houston in early June, quarantined for two weeks, and then reunited with friends and family. She says that’s when she got sick, after dining inside restaurants.

Between June and July, Esteva made four trips to the emergency room as pneumonia spread across both lungs, her oxygen saturation slumped, and her fever climbed.
Once she was admitted to the hospital, she had the choice between plasma therapy or a ventilator. She selected the plasma, and fortunately for her, the treatment seemed to work. Her condition improved. Esteva was released from the hospital days later, but she left with a new perspective.

“It broke my heart to see these people without their families, not being able to see their families or not being able to say goodbye to their families,” she said of the patients she met in New York and San Francisco. “That was my first thought: I can’t die, I need to see my daughter, I need to see my parents, I have so much to do.”

More than three months after contracting the virus, the EMT is still fighting to get well. She was recently cleared to return to the gym and will continue to use her nebulizer and inhaler. She believes her experience as frontline provider turned Covid survivor underscores the importance of everyone wearing a mask.

“Mask up, it does help. Don’t do it for yourself, do it for the other people around you,” she said.

International News
Reuters, October 8, 2020
Australia reported its second straight day without any Covid-19 deaths on Friday, the longest stretch without any fatalities from the virus in three months.
Australian states and territories reported 16 cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, down from 28 on Thursday, and no deaths for two days, the first time Australia has gone 48 hours without a Covid-19 death since July 11. The results cement optimism that Australia has contained a second wave of Covid-19 infections.

NY Times, October 9, 2020
Some areas around the world that were devastated by the coronavirus in the spring — and are now tightening rules to head off a second wave — are facing resistance from residents who are exhausted, confused and frustrated. In both Western Europe and the northeastern United States, governments were able to dramatically reduce cases with broad measures that were effective but economically bruising. Now, as cases surge, officials are seeking more targeted closures, trying to thread a narrowing course between keeping the virus in check and what their publics and economies will bear.

“It is going to be a lot more difficult this time,” said Professor Cornelia Betsch, Heisenberg-Professor of Health Communication at Erfurt University, in Germany, citing “pandemic fatigue.”

Reuters, October 9, 2020
Europe surpassed 100,000 daily reported Covid-19 cases for the first time on Thursday, after countries such as Russia and United Kingdom saw no respite in the mounting number of infections every day in the past five days. The epicentre of the outbreak in the European region has moved to the United Kingdom, Russia, Spain and France which have reported at least over 10,000 cases each in the last three days. Russia reported its highest daily coronavirus cases ever since the last record in May on Friday, prompting Moscow authorities to mull closing bars and nightclubs.

  • Europe's coronavirus case counts just keep climbing, Axios, October 8, 2020. Germany had fared better but is now facing a spike. Germany's public health agency said "parties and family gatherings, including weddings, birthdays and funerals, were the main sources of new infections."

NY Times, October 9, 2020
In the Indian megacities where the pandemic first hit, vigorous public awareness campaigns have left the populace mostly on guard. But when it comes to government efforts to contain the virus, rural India is resisting. Defiance of the coronavirus rules is being reflected across rural India, and it is propelling this nation’s virus caseload toward the No. 1 spot globally. Infections are rippling into every corner of this country of 1.3 billion people.

The Indian news media is calling it “the rural surge.” In many villages, no one is wearing masks. There is no social distancing. People are refusing to get tested and they are hiding their sick. Hospitals are straining.

Bloomberg, October 8, 2020
The number of suicides rose in Japan in August due to more women and school-aged children taking their own lives -- offering a first glimpse into the consequences of the mental health strain brought about by Covid-19 around the globe. The island nation is among a few major economies which releases timely data on suicides as it is a persistent societal issue.

Sociologists have long warned that the economic and social disruption wrought by measures to contain the coronavirus could cause more deaths than the pathogen itself. In Japan, the suicide rate has been falling but it remains a top cause of premature deaths -- this year, suicide has taken over 13,000 lives, while total Covid-19 fatalities number less than 2,000.
Analysis/Opinion
Editorial, New England Journal of Medicine, October 8, 2020
Covid-19 has created a crisis throughout the world. This crisis has produced a test of leadership. With no good options to combat a novel pathogen, countries were forced to make hard choices about how to respond. Here in the United States, our leaders have failed that test. They have taken a crisis and turned it into a tragedy.

Although we tend to focus on technology, most of the interventions that have large effects are not complicated. The United States instituted quarantine and isolation measures late and inconsistently, often without any effort to enforce them, after the disease had spread substantially in many communities. Our rules on social distancing have in many places been lackadaisical at best, with loosening of restrictions long before adequate disease control had been achieved. And in much of the country, people simply don’t wear masks, largely because our leaders have stated outright that masks are political tools rather than effective infection control measures. The government has appropriately invested heavily in vaccine development, but its rhetoric has politicized the development process and led to growing public distrust.

Ed Yong, The Atlantic, October 9, 2020
Equating disease with warfare, and recovery with strength, means that death and disability are linked to failure and weakness. That “does such a disservice to all of the families who have lost loved ones, or who are facing long-term consequences,” says Megan Ranney, an emergency physician at Brown University. Like so much else about the pandemic, the strength-centered rhetoric confuses more than it clarifies, and reveals more about America’s values than the disease currently plaguing it.

Trump is hardly the first American to mischaracterize his own privilege as fortitude, but from his lips, that error is uniquely and doubly pernicious. It distracts not only from the massive advantages that he enjoys, but also from his singular role in America’s pandemic year.

Associated Press, October 8, 2020
Treating the sick and dying isn’t even the toughest part for nurse Amelia Montgomery as the coronavirus surges in her corner of red America. It’s dealing with patients and relatives who don’t believe the virus is real, refuse to wear masks and demand treatments like hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump has championed even though experts say it is not effective against the scourge that has killed over 210,000 in the U.S.

“The majority of people don’t understand and can’t picture what we are seeing. That has been frustrating for all of us,” Montgomery said in an interview, adding: “It wears.” Combating virus skeptics is a battle across the country.

Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2020
Small businesses have been at the losing end of the U.S. economy for decades, but nothing has diminished their stature like the Covid-19 crisis. Thousands of small firms have been driven out of business while their larger counterparts have largely survived and, in some cases, even flourished. The danger is that as a result U.S. economic power will reside in fewer hands, diminishing the innovation and entrepreneurship that have helped drive the country’s success.

Nature, October 8, 2020
In the race for a coronavirus vaccine, China is making bold promises. A Chinese health official has publicly pledged that an effective coronavirus vaccine will be available by the end of the year. The country has also committed to sharing its vaccines with more than a dozen nations, particularly low-income countries that it has close ties with. But even if a vaccine is ready soon, some scientists question whether the country will be able to produce enough doses to meet its international commitments, and if deals with individual countries are the best way to ensure equitable vaccine distribution.
East Bay Focus
Alameda County
Substantial (Red)
  • 3.4 Adjusted case rate of new Covid-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 residents
  • 2.0% Positivity rate
  • 3.9% Health places (equity) index
Contra Costa County
Substantial (Red)
  • 5.6 Adjusted case rate of new Covid-19 positive cases per day per 100,000 residents
  • 3.3% Positivity rate
  • 6.8% Healthy places (equity) index
All California counties are assigned to a tier based on its test positivity and adjusted case rate. To move forward, a county must meet the next tier’s criteria for two consecutive weeks. If a county’s metrics worsen for two consecutive weeks, it will be assigned a more restrictive tier. The state updates the tier data every Tuesday.

For Alameda and Contra Costa Counties to move down to the next tier (moderate/orange), daily new cases (per 100k) must be between 1-3.9 and positive tests must be between 2-4.9%. If a county’s case rate and positivity rate fall into different tiers, the county remains in the stricter tier.
by day as of 10/8/20
by day as of 10/8/20
Over the last seven days, Alameda County officials have confirmed 480 new cases, which amounts to 29 cases per 100,000 residents.
Over the last seven days, Contra Costa County officials have confirmed 505 new cases, which amounts to 45 cases per 100,000 residents.
Top 8 Locations of Cases in Alameda County, as of 10/8/20. Alameda County does not publish cases per 100,000 in the last 14 days by city.
Oakland: 8,621

Hayward: 3,180

Fremont: 1,458

Eden MAC: 1,382

San Leandro: 1,191

Livermore: 944

Union City: 797

Castro Valley: 568
Top 8 Locations of Cases in Contra Costa County plus (in parentheses) cases per 100,000 in last 14 days, as of 10/9/20
Richmond: 3,397 (209)

Antioch: 2,333 (128)

Concord: 2,344 (121)

Pittsburgh: 1,948 (138)

San Pablo: 1,511 (264)

Bay Point: 931 (318)

Brentwood: 658 (91)

Walnut Creek: 618 (30)
East Bay Resources


We are proud to partner with the East Bay Community Foundation in publishing this bulletin. Through donations to its Covid-19 Response Fund, the EBCF provides grants to East Bay nonprofit organizations delivering essential services to those most impacted by the economic fallout from the pandemic.
Mask On Eden Area
Working in collaboration with the Alameda County Public Health Department, the Cities of Hayward and San Leandro, and the Castro Valley and Eden Area Municipal Advisory Councils, the District has printed “Mask On” posters for each city and community in the Eden Health District area. The posters are free and intended for businesses, health clinics, schools, churches, public agencies and nonprofit organizations to display in their entrances.

“Wearing masks in public or any gatherings, including events with friends and extended families, is essential for slowing the spread of the virus,” stated Eden Health District Director Pam Russo. “While we are seeing signs of progress in California, Alameda County remains a Covid-19 'hot spot' in the Bay Area. Please wear a mask to protect yourself while protecting others.”
The public is welcome to download and print or share “Mask On” posters from the District’s website. Posters are available in English, Spanish and Chinese languages.

Posters may also be retrieved during business hours from the lobby of the Eden Health District office building located at 20400 Lake Chabot Road, Castro Valley. Posters for the City of Hayward are also available from the Hayward Chamber of Commerce located at 22561 Main Street, Hayward.
Public Education Covid-19 Flyers
Contra Costa County Health Services has recently published highly informative flyers addressing the risks of becoming infected in certain settings and activities.
Eden Area Food Pantries
We have posted information on food pantries and food services in the cities of Hayward and San Leandro and unincorporated Alameda County including Castro Valley and San Lorenzo. You can access the information here on our website. Alameda County has also released an interactive map listing food distributions and other social services. 
Your feedback is welcome. Please share the Bulletin.
The Eden Health District Board of Directors are Gordon Galvan, Chair, Mariellen Faria, Vice Chair, Roxann Lewis, Pam Russo and Thomas Lorentzen. The Chief Executive Officer is Mark Friedman.

The Eden Health District is committed to ensuring that policy makers and community members receive accurate and timely information to help make the best policy and personal choices to meet and overcome the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Each bulletin includes a summary of the top health, Bay Area, California, national, education and international news on the pandemic plus links to a diverse range of commentary and analysis. We publish the Bulletin on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, unless the day fall on a public holiday.

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We welcome your feedback on our bulletin. Please contact editor Stephen Cassidy.